The Coquis are Still Coming to Oahu

By David Thompson

Published: 2012.09.18 10:10 AM

photo: josh fletcher

The Oahu Invasive Species Committee is investigating 12 reports of suspected coqui frogs, following its recent “Go Out and Listen Night!” The OISC asked residents to spend a half hour on Sept. 13 listening for the piercing chirp of these obnoxious frogs. A dozen of the 133 participants, from locations across the island, reported hearing them.

Coquis have infested the Big Island, but they have yet to get out of control on Oahu. We applaud the OISC’s citizen surveillance initiative, and we hope its investigators catch every last frog in the dragnet. As HONOLULU reported last June in “The Coquis are Coming,” if these rapidly reproducing pests “overwhelm the preciously thin line of defense that has kept their population from exploding here so far, no green valley or well-watered yard on the island will be immune to their dreadful call.”